Past Performance & Capability Documentation
Document past performance and create capability materials for proposals
Overview
Documentation specialists charge $75-$175 hourly or $5,000-$35,000 per project.
Serving 20-50 contractors generates $120,000-$600,000 annually with 75-90% margins.
In 2025, past performance is critical for government contract awards.
Revenue from past performance write-ups ($2,500-$12,000 per project), capability statements ($3,000-$15,000), corporate experience documentation ($5,000-$25,000), CPARS and past performance database management ($3,000-$12,000 monthly), resume and personnel documentation ($500-$2,000 per resume), and proposal boilerplate development ($8,000-$35,000).
Services include past performance questionnaires (PPQs), contract write-ups and descriptions, capability statements and marketing materials, CPARS retrieval and management, key personnel resumes and qualifications, and proposal boilerplate libraries.
Successful specialists write compelling past performance narratives, quantify achievements and outcomes, align experience to evaluation criteria, maintain organized documentation libraries, and improve past performance scoring.
Active government contractors as clients.
Marketing through proposal consultants, contractor associations, past performance expertise, documentation quality, and contractor networks.
Required Skills
- Technical Writing
- Past Performance Evaluation
- Proposal Boilerplate
- Resume Writing
- CPARS System
- Document Management
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Recurring work documenting ongoing contracts
- Can serve many contractors simultaneously
- Less technical than proposal writing
- Critical for proposal past performance sections
- Build reusable documentation libraries
Cons
- Gathering information from clients challenging
- Past performance documentation repetitive
- Lower fees than full proposal writing
- Requires strong writing and editing skills
- Competitive documentation market
How to Get Started
- Build technical and proposal writing skills
- Understand past performance evaluation criteria
- Develop documentation templates and processes
- Market to active government contractors
- Interview clients and gather contract information
- Write compelling past performance narratives
- Build and maintain documentation libraries
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